In late March, Isael Hermosillo received an ominous message from the supervisor around 7 a.m. ordering him to cancel all meetings scheduled for the day.
Hermosillo was eager to notify several locals and notified several locals for lawyers Albertsons and Kroger that he would not be able to attend a local meeting at Buena Park later in the morning, the third consecutive meeting of the week, which was scheduled for the week to hold labor negotiations between large Southern California grocery stores and labor unions to represent their workers.
Two hours later, Hermosillo found himself informed by his supervisor on a video call that he would be placed on one month paid administrative leave and that his job would be terminated.
Hermosillo is one of 130 federal mediators who, after being fired on March 26, effectively shut down a 79-year-old federal agency to mediate labor disputes after the Trump administration’s cost-cutting team called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The termination of the agency, federal mediation and settlement services, has attracted the attention of unions and employers, as well as employers regarding who will step in to ease labor conflicts in Southern California and beyond.
Although relatively small and obscure, the agency plays a crucial role in helping resolve disputes to avoid labor unrest, which could undermine the free flow of commerce, according to former federal mediators and experts.
In addition to promoting negotiations for private employers, mediators deal with workers’ dissatisfaction; train the Joint Labor Administration Commission; appoint an arbitrator if the dispute cannot be resolved; and assist in negotiations to obstruct federal departments. These services cost almost no money.
“We are the people who come quietly when people have problems or contract negotiations don’t work and collapse,” Hermosilo said. “We go in and assist and then go into the next group that might need our help. I think that’s why the American people don’t know who we are and what we do.”
Hermosillo works in the Los Angeles office in Glendale, consisting of five mediators and a supervisor.
UFCW Local 770 president Kathy Finn said his firing caught employers and unions off guard — a few weeks after the Labor contract involving about 55,000 union grocery workers expired — and threw a wrench in negotiations.
Finn said that because Hermosillo has been in talks for years since around 2017, both sides believed him and they interacted with him early in the process – which helped avoid strikes.
“We always have tough negotiations with these companies. … We are very close to strikes, ending or closing a deal minutes or hours before or after the deadline,” Finn said. “The help Isael provides is very valuable.”
The UFCW Local 770 is one of seven locals representing Santa Barbara, speaking with Albertsons, vons and Pavilions Chains parents, and Kroger, who owns Ralphs.
Mediators like Hermosillo are very effective, Finn said. Without them, negotiations could be broken down into designated indexes instead of becoming productive meetings focused on the substance of the contract, Finn said.
Neither Kroger nor Albertsons returned requests for comment.
Doge and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget also did not respond to requests for comment.
Last week, the UFCW joined more than a dozen major unions to file lawsuits against the Trump administration to reverse the closure of federal agencies. The lawsuit filed in federal court in the southern region of New York, deeming that the Trump administration’s demolition of the Mediation Service was a “clear contempt” of Congress’ constitutional powers to create and dissolve such institutions.
In the fiscal year 2024, the agency had a budget of $54 million, employed about 143 full-time mediators who conducted more than 5,400 negotiations for mediation and provided about 10,000 arbitration teams. Recent estimates suggest that mediators’ services save more than $500 million in the economy each year, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit cites data from scrubbing on the agency’s website in recent weeks.
According to the lawsuit, only five mediators and some support staff remained at the agency after the layoffs.
Chicago-Kent Law School emeritus professor and mediator Martin H.
“No one is going to talk about this openly,” Marin said. “They can see this hair-triggering mentality in the White House. Everyone is scared.”
Doge said the agency will limit its services to labor disputes involving more than 1,000 employees. But even with these restrictions, it would be too much work for the rest of the mediators.
“There is no way four mediators can cover the entire country,” Marin said. “The situation is terrible.”
Tina Littleton, another federal mediator in the Glendale office, was shocked by the decision after 15 years at the agency.
“Do I think this is right or appropriate?” Littleton asked. “My answer is no.”
Littleton recently facilitated negotiations between about 200 workers and their employers, plastic bags used to distribute IV IV infusions in medical facilities.
“For us, it doesn't matter big or small, they still play a part in ensuring interstate trade continues to play,” Littleton said.
Field Representative Martha Figueroa, who helped California’s Teachers Federation negotiate contracts, said she often relies on federal mediators for discussions, while Trump Adminity of START began discussions, with the Trump administration targeting children’s development nonprofits that cut funding. She fears that she may have to turn to a “really very expensive” private mediator.
“When you have a private mediator, it's very stressful for both parties,” Figueroa said. “The more you are on the table, the more they get. This is not the case when you have a public mediator.”
William Resh, associate professor at the School of Public Policy at USC, said demolition of funds from the institution does not save money, but creates more inefficiencies.
“The problem with no mediation is that the dispute will be more prolonged and more controversial,” Resh said. “These are highly specialized people with extensive experience in negotiations and conflict negotiations.”
California and several other states are exploring how to fill the gap.
Disputes between California workers and their employers also have the right to provide mediation services to private employers, but there is no budget to do so. She said the workforce groups have been pushing state legislators to engage in budget talks to increase the board’s budget by millions of dollars.
“The country does benefit in the long run. We don't want people to continue strikes. Sometimes it's needed, but in most cases, we prefer that if mediation can help get a good solution.”
